In July, Sberbank mass-blocked accounts, cards, and online applications of activists who were raising funds to help Ukrainian refugees in Russia, as well as their donors, stating "participation in collecting money for questionable purposes".
The main effect of such precedents is reputational: donors will hesitate to transfer money to someone whose accounts were once blocked on grounds of "financing terrorism," "money laundering," or "suspicious transactions."
Blocking on such grounds is usually not a reason for banks to deny citizens the opening of a current account in another bank.
However, in matters of lending to such individuals, banks may exercise excessive caution, argues Tamrin Darbakov, a junior associate at UPPERCASE LEGAL. Tamrin notes that information about individuals suspected of violating Federal Law 115 is collected by Rosfinmonitoring, and through this channel, it may become accessible to other banks.
Blocking on such grounds is usually not a reason for banks to deny citizens the opening of a current account in another bank.
However, in matters of lending to such individuals, banks may exercise excessive caution, argues Tamrin Darbakov, a junior associate at UPPERCASE LEGAL. Tamrin notes that information about individuals suspected of violating Federal Law 115 is collected by Rosfinmonitoring, and through this channel, it may become accessible to other banks.
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